How can we expect loyalty of our key players, if we don’t remain faithful to them?

Sagna will become 30 on Valentines Day, and his current contract will run out by the end of 2014. He suffered two broken legs in a relatively short period of time, and he has had a dip in form recently. The best right back in the Premier League in recent years, Mr. Reliable, is going through a rough patch and we, the supporters, should support him through thick and thin now. But we are not.

Has there been a finer Arsenal player in recent years in our defence than Bacary? Our right back always, and I mean always, gives his all for the shirt and it saddens me to read comments on various blogs of a very negative nature. Bacary has had it apparently, and we should ship him out as soon as possible. Bacary is only interested in a move away and is not given his all for the club anymore. Bacary looks uninterested and is lazy, they say. Really?!

For me, Sagna embodies everything I look for in a player: a consistent performer, who always gives his all, and an absolute beast of a footballer. For years he has been regarded, by pundits and fans alike, as the best right back in the country. Sagna is the sort of player we should aim to keep and build the team on: we need more Sagna’s in the team if we ever are going to win something again.

If it is true that the club is only offering Sagna a one year contract extension, we should all try to understand his anxiety at the moment. Footballers have a short ‘working life’ in their profession and he is now at an age when he needs to secure his future.

The nr.2 for the RB position, Jenkinson, has just been offered a new contract, and Bacary must be thinking his days are over, taking into account the club’s recent history of how those who reached the age of 30 were treated. If on top of that, he has a rare spell of underperformances; it is not hard to imagine that the Frenchman is going through a tough time at the moment.

Now is the time to stand behind him and show our appreciation of what he has done for the club and how much we would like him to stay and help us fight for trophies.

If we are not careful Sagna will become another victim of a negative ‘fans fulfilling prophecy’:

A couple of (perceived) under-par performances by Sagna leads to;

Unhappy crowds and unhappy bloggers, etc;

Once Sagna becomes aware of this (and how couldn’t he) it’s highly likely that his confidence gets affected;

Sagna might easily start making more mistakes, and as a result, will take less risk and might even start hiding during games;

Leading to more unhappy crowds, bloggers etc, even less confidence and worse and worse performances;

Before you know it, we have ‘unsupported’ him into failure.

Sagna made a bad mistake against Southampton which led to us conceding a goal. Until then, The Ox and Bacary had worked their socks off to get our attack going from the right, whilst the rest did not feel like helping out most of the time. Once Bacary made the poor mistake, his confidence was shot and almost everything went wrong after that. Sometimes this happens; he is only human after all.

Against Swansea, on Sunday, he gave again his all and basically worked the entire right flank on his own, as Theo was keen to piss-mark his newly acclaimed territory, so Giroud would not feel too comfortably in the centre of our attack. Given the lack of support, Sagna did well against Swansea; there was definitely an improvement in his performance.

Bacary Sagna is a great player, an experienced player, a warrior who fights for our shirt. He is Arsenal through and through, and we need to do everything to keep him at the club and support him through this difficult period.

He deserves it for all that he has done for us. Wishing him to leave and be replaced by the promising, but raw and inexperienced, Jenkinson is totally inappropriate and utterly counterproductive. We need a mixture of young, up and coming players and experienced players who care about this club and offer real quality. Sagna belongs in the latter category, and I hope he will get our full support when we take on the Northern Oilers on Sunday.

Well said mate. Sagna is a true warrior that keeps his head down, his mouth shut and fights for the team. A beast of a defender and a top top player.
A lot of this was caused by the management once again. Offering the lad a short term contract extension merely on account of his age. As a result he voiced his displeasure with the management and their policies and the fans took that to mean that he wants to leave ( the media also playing their part to fan the flames).
People often dont know what they have until it is gone. Look at Chelsea with all their millions ghey couldnt find a decent right back.
The fans need to get behind him and show him some love.

I couldn’t agree with you more Total. Sagna has been one of the most consistent Arsenal players over the past few years. Maybe rotate a little more with Jenkinson so he can have a rest after his double leg break scenarios, but that’s all. That’s just a healthy state to be in, nothing wrong with that.

I fear it’s not the Arsenal supporters he has to worry about. It’s his managers philosophy of edging players over 30 out of the club is his biggest concern. Why Wenger persists with this notion I do not know. I’m in the camp that you cannot win things with youngsters alone, you need experience and a balance in the squad.

He has looked disinterested and his performances in the last few games have been pretty awful, though he wasn’t so bad against Swansea. I’d still love to keep him but I think we need to accept a few more risks to eke the most out of the money we’ve got; which is the bigger risk out of giving him a big final contract and trying to replace him, I don’t know. How much does Wenger like Yennaris and the Coq as back-up is the question.

It’s very true though that the atmosphere in the Emritaes seems to hinder rather than help the team’s confidence. It seems like people weren’t quite as okay with the fallow period as they/we/I/us thought.

I cannot agree with you that Sagna looked disinterested. If you can, watch the first half against Southampton again and you’ll see how much he gave for us. We should definitely keep him, unless he turns out to be no longer 100% fully fit (and pacey) during the rest of the season.

I couldn’t agree more with you. “Fans” seem to be very quick to critisize players via blogs /social meidia. Players like sagna deserve extra support when things are not goin well . Probably one of our most consistent players over the last several years. Comes across as very professional, an arsenal man . Support your team !!

Totally Agree.. I love Sagna a lot..
Everything.. even his unique hair.. and of course his beautiful wife.. hehehehe..
I feel save when he is playing.. more than Jenkinson..
And if in one or two game he failed to cheer us up.. COYG.. no players can do that everytime.. even Messi did failed.. hehehe..

But I’m afraid.. we will not see him again next season.. and also Vermaelen..
My feeling just told me so.. hiks..hiks..hiks..
Can we rely on Jenkinson alone..??
No.. I think Wenger must start searching for good RB.. to replace him..

But let’s not worry about that now.. let’s think what we can do again City.. hehehe..
With Kun still injured.. Baloteli will be on bench.. the only one we must take care of is Silva.. hehehe..

I guess 1 good out of 4 halves isn’t so bad. It could easily be just a coincidentally bad patch of form that’s making him look so but he does look it to me, then again some say Rambo looks disinterested and that’s patently untrue; it’s pretty subjective.

As you say, if it doesn’t continue then we’d be crazy to let him go if he isn’t asking for a high wage but if Jenkinson can do a job and the team can be improved in other areas with the money we’d save….

Sometimes I’m ashamed of our own fans, and in their treatment of Bac their behaviour is truly shameful. Since he came to us in 07 no other Arsenal player has been more consistent. TA too right Sagna is a warrior who bleeds for Arsenal! After breaking his leg against the spuds in October 2011 he came back to again face the Tiny Totts the following February 2012 in the North London derby, scoring a header inspiring us to come from 2 nil down to run out 5-2 winners. He unfortunately sustained another leg break of the same leg in the final home match of the season against Norwich which ruled him out of Euro’s Sagna says “I love Arsenal, it’s a great club, the manager is also very good and next season I hope we will be fighting for all the trophies.”
I consider it detrimental to our own supporters and indeed it reflects badly on all those that they would slate Mr Reliable solely because very recently he hasn’t performed to his own high standards. Since Mr Reliable came to us there hasn’t been a better right full back in the prem. Sagna might’ve had a bad patch but IMHO he’s still the man.

I have previously expressed my views on Sagna, and indeed on Ramsey, as I think their cases are linked.

Both of them have suffered severe injuries, and in Ramsey’s case it is a miracle he has recovered so well. Bacary’s injury by comparison may not have been so severe, but as he is that much older, the overall effect is similar.

You have written a wonderful eulogy for Bacary, so I will concentrate my response on him.

After he had ‘recovered’ from his leg injury, he was returned to the team almost at once, and I think this was a mistake, both for him and Corp Jenks.

Why do I think that was a mistake, you might well ask?

Well, if Bacary had returned to an upbeat, winning team, I would have no problem with him replacing Jenkinson, immediately, but slowly,slowly with plenty of rotation between the two, until he had recovered his match fitness and with it his pace.

Throwing him straight back into an under performing team, sometimes with Theo in front of him, and sometimes with the Ox, and where he was expected to support a faltering attack as well as shoring up a very unstable defence has been too much to ask.

He has not suddenly become a poor player, and for anyone to say so is very obtuse. But he has not been at his best, yet, and at his age he needs to be eased back into the team, and then he will be able to recover his poise and his pace.

He will know that he has not played well, and will be disappointed with himself, and you are right he does need the support of the fans. Most importantly, he needs the support of the manager, who needs to rest him, but make sure it is being done for his benefit as well as the teams, and that Arsene still has trust in him.

This is where Arsene needs to use his man management skills, and not sacrifice Sagna on the altar of expediency.

Sagna is clearly carrying a knock at the moment, but he plays through the pain. Jenks would be playing instead, but I reckon he’s struggling with a minor injury too. When you’ve got Walcott playing in front of you, that means you’ve got no cover and nobody to pass to. That’s why teams are using two or three players to shut Sagna down as quickly as they can. Nevertheless, he still consistently calls for the ball and is still as dependable as ever in possession.

Unfortunately, when you’re being hounded by three players and your central midfielders choose not to give you an outlet to pass the ball to, you’re going to get dispossessed from time to time. It makes sense for the opposition to try to exploit this, since if Sagna loses possession the route to Arsenal’s goal is usually only blocked by one further defender and the goalkeeper.

He has looked a bit flat for a few games, but he’s probably just in need of a rest. He’s still played a lot better than a number of the players in the squad when you factor in all three games, including Walcott, Cazorla, Arteta, Poldolski, Ramsay, Vermaelen, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Giroud. Between those players they’ve had some absolute stinkers in recent games (all of them have been anonymous in at least one or even two matches), so I think Sagna can be forgiven for temporarily dropping his level from world class to premier league class.

You have to be bloody good to play full back for Arsenal. You get no cover, you have to defend the whole of your side of the pitch and you have to support attacks. There are few players in the world who can do that. There are fewer still who are even expected to do that.

Some people may be surprised to learn that I enjoy Rugby Football too.

Many fans do not understand the long term effects a serious leg injury can have on top sportsmen, and that explains their attitude towards Sagna and Ramsey.

To put things in context, a very good Welsh international rugby player, called Morgan Stoddart, suffered a leg break while playing against England, last Spring. He managed to recover, and play professionally again in the Fall of last year.

Yesterday, he announced his immediate resignation from all forms of rugby, because although his leg had healed, he had lost the strength in it, as well as the ability to run as fast as he had prior to the accident.

So we are lucky that Sagna with two breaks, and Ramsey with that horrendous compound fracture inflicted by Shaw can walk, let alone play football at the top level.

I know what you are saying. Jenkinson could be a ready replacement, but we have far too much transition going on at the club. The Chavs won the CL for two reason: 1) lucky bunch of feckers and 2) experienced players throughout the squad. When the going gets tough it are the likes of Sagna, TV, Mertesacker, Arteta, Cazorla, Podolski etc who need to carry us through in the next few years.

it is a sad state of affairs that repeated posts make reference to the abject support offered by Walcott, a player of one dimension, and yet fans say [pay him what he wants. As for Sagna, he has had a poor season, his performances have ranged from average to abysmal. he rarely gets a cross in and is repeatedly beaten for pace. something that NEVER happened before his injuries. I doubt he will recover, and should be considerd back up to Jenkinson at best

Totally agree. We need to understand our job as fans. We love Arsenal, therefore we need to love the players in the shirt. We need to feel like they are as invested as we are.

Performances have to be taken in context, unfortunately too many folk love a good knee-jerk reaction and spout off without considering all of the conditions of the performance, i.e. physical, emotional and the atmosphere.

Sagna is still a great right back, I think at times he has under-performed, but then he also just doesn’t have an understanding at all with Ox and I think that makes him look bad sometimes. The Ox is on a different wavelength to him and you can see that in games. Sagna gets frustrated and makes mistakes.

You are not the only one makes the comparison between Sagna and Ramsey. They both had leg breaks, but you are right in pointing out that Aaron’s was a lot worse. I thought Ramsey looked good at the start of last season and that he would get back to his best any time soon. But he really has stagnated, and being played away from central midfield is not helping him either.

It looks to me that Ramsey does not have the same feeling in his leg anymore, and that might explain why his passing has deteriorated so much this year. He also appears to have difficulties with the speed of the game, as he is not allowed to control the game as much in our formation/PL style of football. I hope he will come good, but I now have big doubts he will be able to get a regular spot at Arsenal. A real shame this would be.

We both have been watching a different Sagna then. His crossing has not deteriorated in my view: it was never his strongest point. As for speed, again I disagree that this might be ‘structural’, but time will tell.

Fully agreed amigo. An Arsenal wing-back needs to do so much, and yet if both Theo and Ox are not capable/willing to give defensive support back then who is going to look worst? The full back indeed. Arsenal rely so much on the drive and energy of Sagna on the right and of course there is a risk that he will make mistakes, or gets targeted (as per Ray Parlour excellent comment earlier). I also feel Sagna needs Mertesacker to play next to him: they both have a good positional understanding and support each other (weaknesses).

As ever a truly quality Post, Total, and a sterling defence of one of our most consistent players. Personally I think we can forgive Sagna a few below-par performances given that he was probably rushed back a bit too soon. I’d certainly like to see him at Arsenal for a few more years, a solid model professional who has regularly made the PL’s best XI, and never shirks or hides from his responsibilities.
Definitely one that Mr Wenger got right.

I agree with everything you say Total. It’s just stupid that a selection of fans can be so short minded and shoot from the hip. Everyone has a bad day or a bad patch in life and work. It is part of being human! (Excludes messi – he isn’t human).

I believe as you say sagna makes up for any mistakes and for gods sake I believe he is “entitled” to a few mistakes. For the sheer amount of class, commitment and yes consistency to his game and what he brings to arsenal. You know he is a gooner just look back at his goal and celebration last year against the spuds to get us back in the game. That speaks volume!

Similar to Theo really, look how much stick he has got from a lot of us fans and all of a sudden we want him to stay!? I don’t blame him, like sagna (if that’s the case), to think “sod you, you never supported me when I needed it”. That was what i thought when theo acored his first of his hat trick the way he celebrated. Just like with wenger so many fans jump on the band wagon, “get rid” etc but we would be in a bad situation with out him. And top trumps and all due credit to wenger for sticking at it despite the hate and vitriol from some fans.

Hi Herb, agreed Wenger got that one right. I would truly dread to see him play for Chelsea or one of the Manc clubs in August, and we all know this is, unfortunately, a real possibility, unless the club starts showing some loyalty to those who fought for the shirt every single game.

Great comparison with Theo and I fully agree. The beauty of Theo is he has a thick skin and can shrug off criticism with ease. He might have a bad game now and again but the following week he plays brilliantly. Eboue was made of different stuff, and so are Ramsey and Denilson. There always has to be a fine line between supporting our players, especially the young ones, and being critical about their skills and abilities for the team. Players need to be good enough to play for Arsenal in the end, but it is amazing how many players are affected by a lack of support, as per the fans fulfilling prophecy cycle.

When our team does not perform well, there are different ways of pin-pointing what is going wrong. The easiest way is to pick on individual performances, and I guess this will never change.

I was speaking to a friend of mine, Elliot, who partly inspired today’s post. He was saying how much we missed a couple of players with not only a winner mentality but, most importantly, with winners’ experience as well. He does not necessarily want fat Frank to come and join Arsenal, but that is the sort of guy he was thinking of. Somebody in the dressing room and on the pitch who has been there, done it and can coach the youngsters.

Good point Total. Interesting that Abramovich seems prepared to let Cole, Terry and Lampard go, it was said on TalkSPORT that Terry has been told he can leave because he wouldn’t support AVB, I wonder if that’s also true of the other two. They’re all as thick as thieves, and Cole isn’t the sharpest of boys. I thought they were very ruthless with Drogba after he carried them over the line, and thought he might be worth a punt, particularly as we operate with a lone striker, and he’d definitely bring with him that elusive winner’s mentality.
It’s hard to know how much influence Bouldy has, being part of the legendary mean back-five in Graham’s era. I know during our run to the CL final in 2006 when we created a record for the longest period without conceding, Martin Keown was working with the defence and it seems strange that the arrangement wasn’t made permanent.
A couple of seasoned professionals with experience of winning trophies would probably work wonders for us and transform the whole club.

I did not know he wants all three to go, Herb. It would be a foolish thing to do. I wish we kept either Vieira or Pires until they retired, and we can see how the Mancs keep ticking by with their old timers.

Of course, I don’t know Wenger personally, but he strikes me as a very dominant person, who leads his staff and players from a distance. His vision of football and developing players into good to great ones, are his qualities, but I reckon it would be hard to be his number two.

I worked once for a very inspirational, genial person and I learned a lot of him, but he was nevertheless almost impossible to work for. I reckon, Arsene is quite similar, and yet the players need the likes of Bould, Keown, Henry, Bergkamp to share with them what winning is all about, and to get the very best out of themselves. I wonder whether that is the case at the moment. Pat Rice was humble and hard working and extremely loyal, it seems. Bould seems to have some strong ideas of his own, but it looks like he is finding it difficult to influence Arsene. I could be totally wrong of course, and I hope I am. I have said before that doubt and humility are two important attributes towards positive change/improvement and I hope Arsene is listening to his staff.

I think we’ve both said that he wears too many hats and has taken on far too much responsibility, which doesn’t do him any favours with the hard core supporters.
The latest revelation regarding the wage-structure is a case in point, and it’s such a shame because all we really want is Arsene Wenger the visionary football manager, not Arsene Wenger playing the politician. It muddies the waters and confuses supporters whose only outlet is to turn on each other, which never has a happy ending.

When David Dein left in 07 I heard Arsene say he wasn’t a happy bunny at all, because the board had told him he’d have to do 2 jobs (or he’d have to appoint someone to do DD’s job). The one he loved, working with the players and all things football and the one he hated and had no experience of. Contracts, negotiations and the business side of the game. It should be remembered that on the continent there is the coach, and a director of football, as there was at Monaco, when Arsene “managed” there, in actual fact he coached the team, so Arsene had no experience of the English model of manager until DD was slung out.

He had to learn on the job. On top of all that he had Kroenke’s newly appointed overseer come player buyer, contract negotiator to deal with. Who had absolutely no footballing contacts and knew nothing about how football deal’s were really done. According to the fella that sat close to Arsene it was Kroenke’s trouble shooter that left the stable door wide open when he flew to Spain to seal his first ever football contract. He didn’t understand that the most important thing was to get the player to sign personal terms. Instead he left Valencia having completed what he thought was “the deal” with the club only to find that without personal terms signed there was no deal. The Chav’s got our player and we had to wait a year to find a creative mid.

Hi Redders, hope you’re well. I meant to say a few days ago, I hope everything went well for you at the hospital.
I do think if Mr Wenger was allowed to concentrate solely on the football we’d still be a major force. Sadly all the other distractions and duties he has taken on have drained a lot of his natural energy and taken a huge physical toll, which in turn has been detrimental to his footballing instincts.
You’re quite right Richie in reference to the significance of Dein’s role, whether he would return, or whether he’d be welcomed back is another issue, but his leaving definitely caused a lot of internal damage that we’ve yet to recover from.

DD was a dog! How can anyone even consider getting him back? Lets not forget DD not only bought Kroenke in without telling the board or even asking for their opinion, which got him kicked off the board. He then really threw his toys out of the pram and brought in the greasy Uzbek as revenge.

The trip to the liberty stadium was a success total. I am back alive and unscathed. I was especially fine sipping brandy from the hip flask from 11:00. Over 5 hours of driving (passenger of course) done me in the next day, not the brandy.

Agree totally with your response I felt awful when near enough the whole stadium booed eboue that night and was genuinely sad to see him later depart from us.

I believe it was VCC who said that the sagna situation is mainly to do with the management. This I most believe.

No the DD AW partnership only worked well because as a proper businessman with loads of contacts in the game when Arsene pointed out what we needed he got it without a fuss. The problem was he wanted all the power and over played his hand, if he’d had patience it would all have come to him but he couldn’t wait.

Hi Redders, hope your health condition improves quickly again. Make sure you do NOT read any of Glic’s or Terry’s vulgarities prior to your next visit to the nurses, as they might influence your behaviour and you end up getting stung extra hard with their needles! 😦

Good to hear you enjoyed the experience Gooner4eva49. A drop of brandy warms the soul, even on a wintersday in Swansea. I know all about the driving being based in the arse-end of the country 😛

Richie, DD had the experience, persuasion skills (and getting Wenger to accept something must be a real skill), and he was streetwise. I agree he is unlikely to come back and neither should he perhaps, but we could do with somebody at the club with Dein’s skillset.

Sagna is a fine player and excellent pro. He looks a bit knackered, but who wouldnt with a wife like that. If that was me i would step out of the house with my wig the wrong way round, one shoe only, and a walk like a Thunderbird puppet.

He deserves respect for his service to the club, and is still the man for Jenks to learn from.

I recall another right back, a certain Pat Rice. In the early eighties Pat was past it and rather rotund, he obviously never had a wife like Sagnas, By the looks of him he was married to Vanessa Feltz. Anyway, the team was very poor and so was he. By the end, were ever you stood in the ground you would always hear him referred to as “Fat Shit”.

Fine post Total, I`ve never seen someone win as many headers from our goalies clearences as Bacca, he`s quality and will come good.

But, like others, I would prefer to talk about Mrs Sagna and only want Bacca to stay so when he`s out with his gooner mates, I can pop round. He`s out tonight and I`m outside their house just about to ring her bell, but I`m currently suffering from some erectile problems which can only be helped with emoticons, so someone please put up some smiley`s ……and quick !. hahaha

Well I will say this the critics blaming Sagna are unfair about one thing and that is singling him out. But to say we as fans owe him anything is just rubbish. the rest of what I have to say is not directed at Mr Sagna or any single player but all of them. We the fans spend our money to buy tickets, shirts , team merchandise club memberships, TV sports packages. And Sponsors spend millions to sell their merchandise to us. Why because we support Arsenal FC the players that get hired to play for that club owe us, not the other way around.
There are thousands of young lads who dream of one day making it to a professional football club and hundreds that make it to the pros that never get the chance to play for a club as big as Arsenal. It may sound cruel to say it but even when a player goes down with injuries like Ramsey and Wilshere and Sagna if they can not return to full form then the manager should get them off the pitch and get someone out there that can perform. I do not mean sell them off if we have faith they will get to full form then let them train and play with the reserves until they can get back into the first team and look like they belong there. RIght now we have 5 players Diaby, Ramsey, Wilshere and Sagna Rosicky all coming back from long form injuries of one type or another it is like a damn rehab clinic not a football team. And how long can you use the injury as a excuse. Hay I know all about injuries I was 18 and just starting a scholarship when my ACL/MCL was blown in training. I never returned to what could have been a promising Collage career. It is not a Professional club but it was the end of a collage scholarship. BUT that is life in sport your only as good to the team for what your doing on the pitch NOW not what you might do or what you once did. It is about putting the best players in the best current form out on the pitch to win the game. If Sagna or Ramsey or any player is having a shocker no matter what the reason they better get their act to together or get off and make way for someone else. It does not mean we do not wish the best for the player I do not hate the players or think they are horrible just that at the moment they are not playing well enough to be in the first team for Arsenal FC. The problem I see is Arsenal have been selling off too man top players and marginalizing others that even when a player is off form he is still better (in the manager’s eyes) then who we have in reserve so we are stuck hoping that the next match Wilshere will be back to full form and be amazing or Ramsey will show us the brilliant play he showed as a youth. But at the moment they are NOT and yes Sagna had a shocker but the center backs along side him where not any better.

What happened to Studmuffin Studmeister……Studley McStudstud`s comment , which was wishing Redders all the best ?. It was there then disappeared !. A bit like my dysfunctional state at the moment, unless someone puts up some smiley`s !. hahaha

Great post as always, your faith and optimism on everything Arsenal is admirable. In my opinion, Sagna’s performances have not been that poor this season and despite losing a step, he’s still been reliable considering he was thrown into the fire immediately upon returning from injury. His performances post-injury are much better than Ramsey’s have been in the second half of last season and all of this season – I believe some of the criticism on Sagna is correlated to the obscurity surrounding his contract and a perceived unwillingness to commit his future to the team. Too many gooners are placing players under a microscope and magnifying mistakes as a reflection of a players’ overall performance. Sagna was once considered to be the best RB in the EPL and even though he’s getting older, at 29 he’s still got a few years left to perform at his prime. RB should be the least of our concerns, he’ll be fine and continue to be a reliable defender.

In other news, several outlets are reporting that Theo has agreed to a new contract until 2017. If true, this is good news for the Arsenal! Still holding out hope that we’ll sign a couple players, but things are looking unlikely and AW will cheap out and likely claim that Theo re-signing and Diaby coming back are like two signings at this point…

Thanks for your well-written, in-depth comment. Sorry to hear about your scholarship coming to an end due to injury.

Wilshere is our best player at the moment, so no need to rest him, except for overcoming fatigue, imo.

As fans we make or break players with our support during games, and a lot of us are projecting our anger, anxieties and media nonsense we read on our players far too much. If somebody wears our shirt, works hard and loves the club, he will get all my support. That is how it should be in my opinion.

In all honesty the only signing that matters is Theo Wallcot. It is another sign of our intent and after the 5 brits last week will be the iceing on the cake.

If we look at Theos improvement from 2 years ago it is realy quite extradoniary, and hes not even close to the finnished article, infact hes just starting. Thats what will happen with many, many other players, under the guidance of Arsene Wenger. Keep the faith, we will rise to the top.

Redders, hope you can take more steps forward than back soon mate. The whole thing must be very draining for you but your too good a man not to beat this thing. i shall send Terry positive mind energy to you immediatly.

@TA18:14 damn right we could do with a version of the DD especially a pre 07 one at the club! If only! In regards to that I typed something and posted it at 17:58 which I immediately regretted. Never a truer phrase than “speak in hast repent at leisure” I think it’s fair to call into question David Dein’s motive’s for selling his shares to Alisher Usmanov & Farhad Moshiri. I also think it’s fair to question DD’s intentions re-bringing Kroenke into the frame, however Mr Dein is not nor has he ever been a dog and I was completely wrong to call him one. Even though I believe a lot of my clubs turmoil came about as a direct result of DD actions, I still think as Gooners we all owe DD a debt of gratitude. He was instrumental in bringing Arsene Wenger to the club, he was instrumental in bringing in most of the greatest players the club has had including “God”. Wrighty, Vieira, Petit, Overmars, Henry, Pires, Campbell, Gilberto, Clichy, Toure, Fabregas and the Dijk van P.

He was a driving force in the development of the wonderfully named Emirates 😆 🙂 😆 (he hee he hee; laughed in HC’s style) and he was instrumental in raising Arsenals international profile, taking her along with AW from a local club to a global stage. He got us into the elite G14 club too and we’ve never even won the CL, so credit where it’s due. He’s done more for the Arse than I’ll ever do, even if by some miracle I live to support her for another 50 years. Not only that but he’s there at the Ems for our home games so he’s a Gooner. I offer in mitigation only that those closest to us often hurt the most, and in DD I felt betrayed by his actions “a la van Judas”. I never begrudged him the money he made selling his Arsenal shares because when he invested his millions and owned 41% of the club way back in the 80’s he took the risk with his fortune, I just wished he’d played his Arsenal cards better for the club.

great post TA and brilliant comments to back it up. Really enjoyed the lot of them.

I’m in the redders boat on this one. He should have been integrated slowly into the team. It should be a slow passing of the torch over the next two seasons. By the end of it Sagna should be Jenks backup. The fact that supporters get on his back is ridiculous! I’ll never forget the header against the spuds, such determination, i was that excited i swear i nearly bounced off the couch and in to the roof.

@ Herb 12.26

well said. A very good purchase

@ RA

Pulling for you mate, hope it all sorts itself out soon. You tell those nurses to stop being so grouchy…so what if you’ve been demanding more sponge baths, it’s what they get paid for!

Wow Richie, a very insightful, balanced summary of the good and not so good of DD. To me, it looks like he was missing a mentor back then, and could it be he was/is easily manipulated by the very rich and powerful?

@TA I don’t actually think DD is easily manipulated by the rich and powerful, he’s rich and powerful himself, and he’s been in their company for years. I mean he actually bought Danny Fiszman to The Arse, I think it’s more the opposite, I think he likes to play god and I think he thought he knew best. I think misguidedly he thought he knew what Arsenal needed better than anyone else. Then when he was striped of his Arsenal vice chairmanship by the board for making moves without informing them, I think his actions were the vengeance typical of a woman scorned. Like oh I see you don’t like me bringing in an American eh? Well how do you like these 2 bods? And he gave them an Uzbek and an Iranian. “Do they sit better with you”?
Let’s not forget DD forced the board’s hand and he got his own way in the end. He brought Kroenke in, in order for the American to become the main man. That was his stated aim. Last time I looked Silent Stan was the man. DD over played his hand because he wanted the Peter D Hill-Wood spot. Which was probably his if his initial plan to bring in SK had worked, it didn’t and so SK couldn’t make him chairman.

Yes of course which is what I meant about DD over playing things. Imagine if he hadn’t rushed? Everything falls into his lap.Danny Fiszman dies and PHW has a heart attack, he’s the chaiman SS is majority share holder and he has 10% or so, he has his cake and he’s eaten it he would still have been on all the influential boards etc etc. He moved too soon and it cost him.